A Look at Nashville Internet Controlled Garage Doors, Home Automation and Security
September 17, 2014
Home automation offers the consumer services and functions available through various systems. What can you include in this list? You can control the lighting in your home through a remote, manipulate an appliance from far away, and monitor fire and carbon monoxide. In addition, it’s possible to use security cameras and live video surveillance to keep an eye on possessions, pets, or children. You may have email and text alerts sent to your smartphone the moment something happens. You can lower the temperature in the home at a moment’s notice. This is very helpful for homeowners who wish to cut back on their heating/cooling bills.
Many refer to home automation as “The Internet of Things.” Why do they do this? What does it mean? Home automation allows us to link our appliances and devices through a network. We get to control every part of our home, providing us with convenience and peace of mind. But home automation isn’t a recent invention. People have utilized home automation for several decades for straightforward appliance and lighting control. Until recently, we didn’t have the ability to do much in terms of connecting everything in a household together. Because of changes in the world of technology, it’s now possible to manipulate your home from anywhere in the world. This is a new reality that people of all ages should keep in mind. Do you want to tell a device what it should do and when it should do it? What about why it should do it? Home automation gives you the key to unlocking such a power. Use your personal preferences to set an automated schedule. This gives you authority and keeps your budget out of harm’s way. If you want to go away on vacation, it’s hard to know if something goes wrong unless you have a house sitter. Your Android or iPhone device may tell you about unwanted visitors, water leaks in the basement, and much more.
Controlling Your Garage Door with Home Automation
When you walk around your property, what items do you interact with the most? One of them is most likely your garage door. While some people are content with a regular, standard garage door opener, you may want something different – something smart. Why not use your phone to dictate the movements of your garage door? No matter where you are in the world, you may open or close the door, lock it, and perform a variety of other commands. Do you leave your home in the evening? A special garage door device may be able to anticipate your departure by noting that you locked the front door and turned off all the lights. It may then open the garage door and let you out without wasting time.
Does such a device exist? Can you really dictate the movements of your garage door with a few swipes on your smartphone’s screen? The MyQ®-enabled Internet Gateway is a good example of what you can find on the market. Manufactured by Liftmaster, you use it as part of your home automation platform. But don’t assume you have to install something large in your garage – on the contrary, a small device is all you need. Simply connect it to your garage door opener. Once you do this, you connect it to a central hub using Ethernet. Download a companion app for your smartphone and you get complete say in how your garage door works. If you so wish, you may tie the actions of your opener to other gadgets operating through your networked system.
When Hackers Threaten Your Home Automation System
Home automation has its advantages. However, you have to take the disadvantages into consideration, too. Your family members could find themselves at the mercy of a hacker. When it comes to “The Internet of Things,” you have to remember that home automation works thanks to the online world. Hackers thrive on the Internet, and you have to know where they strike to keep your household safe. What are a few things hackers can do if they gain access to your home automation system?
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Access Your Wi-Fi
- Hackers can get into your system by accessing your Wi-Fi. Many homeowners don’t bother with passwords, so hackers don’t have to work to gain entry. Once they get inside your Internet, they may be able to manipulate any devices running through your “smart” system.
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Turn On Lights, Manipulate Temperatures
- Your electricity bills could go through the roof once a hacker gets into your system. They could activate your hot tub, change the thermostat, keep lights on all night, or even turn on your television.
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Unlock Doors
- Yes. A professional burglar could potentially hack your network and gain access to your doors.
How to Fight Back
Be smart about automation. There are steps you can take to keep hackers out of your home.
Use a Difficult Password
When you use something like “1234” or the name of your dog, you’re just asking for trouble. A person sitting thousands of miles away could easily hack into your system through a series of lucky guesses. Give yourself a harder password by using a series of numbers, capital letters, and symbols. If you can’t think of one, use a random password generator website on the Internet. If you don’t want to use a website, look around the room and note words and numbers you see. Write the password down and hide the information. Never reveal where you put it unless that someone has your trust.
Demand More from the Companies You Use For Home Automation
Ask For Double Protection
Tell them you want the ability to create a special username and password. Ask them to include security questions that a hacker would never be able to guess. “What was the name of your first pet?” or “What was your first grade teacher’s name?” are good examples. Make sure they know that you want complicated passwords to be a requirement for all customers.
Be Sure Your System Cannot Show In Internet Search Results
Using a few simple phrases on Google, a potential hacker may be able to find your home system in the search results. He may then click on the link and start raising havoc. Make sure the company behind your home automation has taken steps to prevent this from happening. Tell them that even discontinued devices need security. You have the ability to keep “The Internet of Things” inside your own four walls.
Tri-County Garage Doors has experience working with home automation and we will be more than happy to help add your garage door to the list of devices you can control remotely in your home. Give us a call today at (615) 360-3535 for a free estimate. We are your go to professional source for Nashville Internet Controlled Garage Doors and Entry Door Home Automation!